Time is not on Gov. William Donald Schaefer's side, and he knows it.

In just two weeks, the 1994 General Assembly will pack up and go home, taking with it the 72-year-old governor's last chance to mold his legacy.

Between now and then, he wants to persuade legislators to approve the final initiatives of his gubernatorial career -- a ban on assault pistols, welfare reform, a new tobacco tax, and better adoption and child support laws.

It's a tall order in an election year, especially because gun control and welfare issues are more than a little explosive. But Mr. Schaefer, a man who turned temper tantrums into an art form earlier in his administration, remains remarkably calm and focused.

"We are going on the presumption we're going to be here another four years," said Mr. Schaefer, who is legally barred from seeking a third term and will leave office in January.

"I don't want any letdown. I want to pass the legislation and keep going until the day we close up shop and I walk out the door."

His willingness to keep plugging has not gone unnoticed.

"I give credit to Schaefer the man. The guy's still swinging," said Del. D. Bruce Poole, a former House majority leader from Hagerstown. "A lot of people would've said, 'Bag it, I'm going to spend the next few months beside the fireplace, enjoying the comforts of the office.' "

Actually, Mr. Schaefer does enjoy his office hearth. He said it has done wonders to improve his mood and his relationship with lawmakers, whom he used to consider Public Enemy No. 1.

"They came up raving mad and they sat by my fire and we were able to think things out," he said, glancing toward the crackling fire. Addressing his questioner, he added, "Even you're mellower than you were when you came in."

Whether the fire can claim credit or not, Mr. Schaefer is certainly on better terms with many folks in Annapolis. "My relationship with him has never been more cordial," said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., a longtime antagonist. "There hasn't been one harsh word between us."

That hasn't always been the case. In his first term and part of his second, Mr. Schaefer engaged in a near-constant power struggle with the legislature.

'Can't do without me'

Lawmakers believed he wanted to dominate them the way he did the Baltimore City Council when he was mayor. The governor believed legislators wanted to do his job for him.

"We now understand our positions," the governor said. "They can't do too much without me. I can't do too much without them."

It's a startling concession for someone who once declared war on the General Assembly, but then again, it's one of several turnabouts for Mr. Schaefer.

He used to insist that his bills pass virtually untouched by legislative hands, but now he is willing to entertain amendments. In fact, he has repeatedly told lawmakers to fix his bills if they have problems with them, rather than kill the bills outright.

Help from delegates

Perhaps not coincidentally, he has enjoyed some crucial help from lawmakers this year. Mr. Miller, for one, gave the governor's assault pistol ban a significant boost by sending a version of the bill to a friendly committee. Because of that maneuvering, the bill reached the Senate floor for the first time and passed.

The gun control measure survived an important vote in a House of Delegates committee yesterday, but its future is uncertain. If the full House tacks on even one little amendment, the bill would have to return to the Senate, where it could die in a filibuster.

Mr. Schaefer has received help on another issue from female delegates. The women are championing his adoption bill, which would make it easier for foster children to find permanent homes by speeding up the adoption process. The House Judiciary Committee defeated the measure, but several women are trying to persuade House leaders to reconsider.

Another of the governor's social proposals, welfare reform, has run into problems in the House. Some delegates are concerned because senators changed the bill so it would lift restrictions on state-financed abortions for poor women.

The future is cloudier for the governor's bill to speed up appeals in death penalty cases. Senators and delegates alike have significantly weakened the measure, although the lost provisions could be restored.

Mr. Schaefer may face his toughest battle with his proposed 25-cents-a-pack cigarette tax. Lawmakers, not surprisingly, do not relish the idea of raising any kind of tax before an election, especially in a year when the budget will balance without it.

But Mr. Schaefer wants the tax for health reasons: He believes that higher costs will discourage children from smoking.

Schaefer's last hurrah

The governor has issued an ultimatum. Unless the legislature raises tobacco taxes by at least 12.5 cents a pack, he will withhold a supplemental budget appropriation and indirectly jeopardize money legislators want for pet projects and programs.

He also has another card to play. Because this is the end of a four-year term, Mr. Schaefer's vetoes cannot be overturned by the next legislature. It is what one aide calls "the ultimate power."

He hasn't threatened to get back at his enemies by vetoing their bills, but he doesn't really need to. The fear of it is enough to make some people think twice.

Although many of his proposals are up in the air, Mr. Schaefer remains fairly confident. He said he expects to win passage of 85 percent of his legislative package, which would make him 85 percent happy.

When he stops and thinks about it, Mr. Schaefer seems fairly happy with the legacy of his past seven years: roads built through mountainous Western Maryland, beach replenishment in Ocean City, schools, the baseball stadium, economic development efforts. "I've got a fingerprint in every section of this state. And while I never get your newspaper to acknowledge it, we do. We have an imprint everywhere," he said.

Every corner of the state "benefited from what I did. When they needed a school, they got a school whether they were for me or against me. When they needed a road, they got a road. . . . Even in areas where I was totally wiped out, totally wiped out in the election of '90, those areas all have benefited from my presence."

Even farmers on the Eastern Shore, a region he once referred to as an outhouse during a fit of pique, have benefited, he said. "The farmers on the Shore are not nasty to me now," he said, betraying just a hint of satisfaction.

THE GOVERNOR'S PACKAGE

Here is the status of some Schaefer administration bills in the 1994 General Assembly:

Gun control

Would ban the sale of 18 types of semiautomatic assault pistols and ammunition magazines containing more than 20 bullets. (Passed by Senate and a House committee.)

Tobacco

Regulating sales: Would allow counties and Baltimore to adopt tougher laws than the state regulating the sale of cigarettes. (Dead in both houses.)

Location of vending machines: Would ban cigarette vending machines in most places, except bars and tobacco shops. (Dead in both houses.)

Illegal sales to minors: Would increase the fines on people who sell cigarettes to minors and make it illegal for youths to buy or possess cigarettes. (Passed by House, pending on Senate floor.)

Welfare reform

Would deny higher payments to mothers who have morchildren once on welfare. Would require some recipients to work or perform community service after 18 months or risk losing welfare. (Pending; Senate wants to use the bill to lift restrictions on state-financed abortions for poor women.)

Death penalty

Reform: Would speed up death penalty appeals. (Both houses have weakened bill, but lost provisions could be restored.)

Lethal injection: Would switch the state's method of execution from the gas chamber to lethal injection. (Signed into law by the governor Friday.)

Victims' rights

Would put on November ballot a constitutional amendment guaranteeing crime victims the right to attend and participate in trials of their assailants. (Identical bills passed by both houses.)

tTC Children's issues

Adoption: Would speed process to make it easier for foster children to be adopted. (Defeated by a House committee but passed by Senate.)

Child support: Would make it easier for courts to establish paternity and order parents to provide health insurance for their children. (Passed by the Senate, weaker version pending in the House.)

Taxes

State tobacco tax: Would raise the cigarette tax by 25 cents a pack, to 61 cents. (Defeated by a Senate committee and awaiting action by a House committee.)

Fees for mobile phones: Would require an estimated 280,000 mobile phone users to start paying the same 911 emergency fees as other telephone customers. (Passed by House but in trouble in Senate.)